1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of drawer slide assemblies and pertains more particularly to an inexpensive drawer slide device which functions in a manner comparable to more expensive assemblies heretofore known.
2. The Prior Art
Conventional drawer slide assemblies include at each side of the drawer a roller mechanism adapted to be affixed to the opposed cabinet faces. A channel assembly is secured to the drawer sides, the channel assemblies being slidably supported on the roller mechanisms. Typically, both the roller assembly and the channel assembly extend approximately for the full depth of the drawer.
The roller assembly typically includes a roller adjacent the front of the cabinet, and the channel assembly a roller adjacent the rear of the drawer whereby the rear end of the drawer is continuously supported. In lieu of rollers there may be employed a multiplicity of ball bearings or like anti-friction members captured between the channel which moves with the drawer and the component affixed to the cabinet. The requirement that the roller assembly extend essentially the entire length of the drawer, with attendant high material costs, and the requirement that such assembly be fabricated, due to its length, by a relatively expensive rolling operation, materially increases the cost of the assembly.
Attempts have been made to provide an inexpensive drawer slide assembly consisting of an essentially conventional channel member. The expense saving is engendered by the provision of a short roller section intended to be mounted adjacent the front of the drawer opening, the roller section employing two relatively closely spaced roller members. While such assembly has proven feasible to a degree, there are numerous disadvantages associated therewith which have prevented its widespread use.
The principal disadvantage resides in the fact that, in the limiting positions of the drawer, i.e. the fully closed position and the fully open position, there is a tendency for the drawer to sag. More specifically, when the drawer is fully closed, since the two rollers engage the channel adjacent the front of the drawer, there is no support for the channel adjacent the inner end of the drawer. As a result, the inner end of the drawer tips downwardly and the front face of the drawer is thus disposed at an angle relative to the front face of the cabinet.
In the fully open position, an opposite condition results, i.e. the rollers engage the channels only at the inner end of the drawer and the eccentric weighting of the drawer makes the drawer tip such that the front end is lower than the back end.